Nowadays, a large-capacity magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) which uses a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) element is expected and attracts people's attention. In an MTJ element, of two magnetic layers which sandwich a tunnel barrier layer, one of the magnetic layers is formed as a magnetization fixed layer (a reference layer) in which the direction of magnetization is fixed to be invariable, and the other magnetic layer is formed as a magnetization free layer (a storage layer) in which the direction of magnetization is made to be easily reversed. Further, a shift cancelling layer for suppressing the influence of a stray magnetic field may be provided.